-Turn off all large appliances that come on automatically. Make sure appliances you were using when the outage occurred, like ovens, stoves, irons or power tools are turned off.

-Disconnect sensitive electronics like TVs, home theatre components and computers to avoid damage from surges.

-When the power comes back on, give the electric system a chance to stabilize by gradually using the appliances you turned off. Use only the most essential first and wait 15 minutes on the others, including water and space heating.

POWER OUTAGE SAFETY GUIDELINESIf you use a portable generator, isolate it from our lines. Generators that are not isolated can feed back into our electrical system and possibly electrocute anyone coming in contact with those wires.

Don’t try to remove or clear trees tangled in power lines.

Stay away from any downed lines (no matter what type) and call your power company or 911.

Do not touch a power line with any other object (brooms, boards, plastic, etc.) and do not touch any object in contact with a power line (car, tree limb, person, etc.).